What I need
by live.for.the.summer.28
Summary: The Huntsman wakes up from a nightmare and Snow White is there to comfort him. They discover some things. Takes place after the battle. Please review!
1. Finding It

"What would you give to see your wife again?"

I lurch forward as I awaken from my dream, more of a nightmare now that I think about it. Just a dream Eric. I look around taking in my surroundings. I see the Queen sleeping by me sound asleep. Good thing I didn't wake her. She hasn't gotten a good nights sleep in a while. Even though she tells me that by having me with her at her side helps her more.  
"My Huntsman?" The Queen mumbles sitting up.

"It's nothing my Queen, just a bad dream. Please go back to sleep," I tell Snow reassuringly.

"No Huntsman. Tell me what you dreamed about. You always help me with my dreams." Snow grabs my hand and holds it in her small, smooth hands. I feel my stomache swoon when her green eyes meet my blue eyes, holding my gaze. I sigh.

"I had a dream about when the Dark Queen had ordered me to go take your heart and offer me my dead wife in return." I watch Snow's eyes change. They become sad and hurt. I squeeze her hand.

"Do you miss Sara?"

"How do you know her name was Sara?" I ask in disbleif. I've never told her Sara's name.

"You told me when I was dead. You came to talk to me and you said that I reminded you of her that we were similiar. Our heart and spirit. You also said that after she died you became a you that you didn't much care for, until me."I am silent for a moment as I take in what she has shared with me. She could hear things? I feel cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"I do miss Sara. More than you could imagine. But I have learned to move on. Like I said before,  
my queen, you two are so much alike. I meant every word I said to you that night." Snow reaches her other hand up to cup my cheek. Her long,soft fingers brush against it. I try to ignore my heart as it beats faster than usual.

"Then you kissed me." I nod. Not meeting her eyes. Knowing that even if the Queen did return my feeling then it would still hurt. "You broke the spell, Eric. True loves kiss." Snow pulls my face towards hers to meet my eyes.

"I was wrong you know Princess." Snow smiles a little at the princess part. But her face is masked with confusion.

"What were you wrong about my Huntsman?"

"I thought I wanted to see my wife again. But I don't. And it's not just because I met you. Which is part of the reason. But she left this world for a reason. When she did leave I became a no good drunkard. That needed to happen so that I could meet you and fall for you." I say taking her face in both of my hands. Tears run down her face and I try to wipe them away quickly. She presses her forehead against mine and runs her hand through my hair.

"I have fallen for you too. My father once told me about finding true love. How you always want to do good by them and protect them. My father also told me you get funny feelings inside of you and you always want to be close to them. Even when your close to them it still doesn't feel close enough." She gives a breathless laugh."I honestly thought William would be my husband one day. But deep down in my heart I knew he would never be the one. I wasn't shocked that when he kissed me I did not wake up."

"My Queen. You do know we cannot be together."

"And why not, Eric? Just because my Couincil will not like it. I may be together with whomever I desire to be with. Even if it is with a Huntsman."

"And I may be with whomever I desire to be with. Even if it is with a powerful, beautiful, Queen."  
I say smiling when she laughs and pulls my lips to hers. It feels great to have her lips moving this time, instead of cold and dead lips. I hear her moan as I pull her down in the covers with me.

"Will you marry me, My dear Snow White?" I say on her lips.

"Of course, my dear Huntsman." She says pressing her lips to mine eagerly."I love you."

I can't help but pull her closer to me and say,"I love you too my Princess."  



	2. Containing It

"You love him, don't you Queen," William asks but says more as a statement to me as I get up from my throne after finishing up with a meeting. I look up at him and already know who he is talking about.

My Huntsman. An image of him comes into my mind. His bright blue eyes, strong hands, muscular body that protects me every day. I blush when I realize I'm thinking this with William by me.

"Yes I do," I say knowing that Eric still wanted to keep us a secret because of what others would think of us together. I honestly don't care what they think but if it means that much to Eric then I will respect it. "But can you not tell anyone? Some people here would not approve of us." Something flashes in his eyes for a second but it changes as soon as it happened. I am taken aback as I realize that it could have been anger of that some sort.

"Sure my Queen, I just didn't know you were interested in him that way," William says as we walk down the hall to have lunch. As he says this I can't help but hear some jealously in his voice. I'm suddenly struck with how unfair this must seem to him. Of course I know that William has feelings for me. When I was tricked into eating the apple by Ravenna he was the first one to try kissing me. He thought he could break the spell.

"Well, I honestly don't know how to explain it. I guess he sort of crept up on me," I say smiling but trying to keep the lovesick tone out of my voice. I don't want William to feel even worse than he already does. I see him nod and we stop just outside the main dining room.

"Do you mind if I ask you something my Highness?"

"Not at all Sir William."

"Have you ever thought that we would end up with each other," he asks me, blushing a bit and keeping his blue eyes away from mine. An uneasiness swarms into my stomach, I hate bringing people unhappiness. I'm silent for a while as I try to figure out what to say, without hurting his feelings.

"William for the longest time I thought we would end up with each other. When we were just little children I knew that eventually we would marry, if things played out the right way. As I was locked in that tower I changed my mind on a lot of things, one of the things being you. Once I knew that the Huntsman would help and protect me I knew that my mind had changed already," I say truthfully, looking into his eyes.

"What did you change your mind about?"

"That there are good in men, I mean no offense to you, but when you and your father left something broke in me. I suppose that the Huntsman fixed me up and regained a trust that I kept only in myself."

William stands there for a while and people look at us when they enter the Main Dining room. His eyes then catch something that is behind me. He tries to give me a small smile but it turns out to look like a grimace. As I turn around I find my Huntsman striding towards us with his uniform on.

"Hello my Queen," Eric says to me, bowing. I can tell he is trying to keep the loving tone out of his voice and the loving look out of his eyes. I find myself doing the same thing. "Sir William." They nod at each other and my Huntsman continues into the Dining room.

"I'll save a seat for you, Princess," I feel my heart beat quicken as he says this. It's the little moments like this that make me blush. He smirks at me and says, "Don't take too long."

I smile at him and look into his eyes as he waits for my reply. "I will never keep you waiting, my Huntsman." I feel my heart melt as he walks away but not before flashing me his smile that knows drives me mad.

Someone clears their throat and I feel annoyance radiate off me as I realize someone is ruining my moment. I find William gazing at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I give him a small smile and nod at him.

"If you will excuse me," I say passing him as I enter the Dining room not stopping until I see Eric sitting alone with an empty seat across from him. I repress the urge to run to him. Or worse, touch him.

When I get to him and my eyes meet his dazzling blue eyes I know that I have completely and absolutely fallen in love with him, and that sooner or later I will not be able to keep our love a secret.


	3. Admitting It

"I don't want to keep our love a secret anymore," I blurt out to Eric as we lay on my bed, trying to fall asleep. He automatically stiffens and sits up, pulling his body away from mine. Coldness sweeps over me, maybe I'm overacting, but I did feel warmer with the Huntsman close to me.

"I thought you respected my choice."

I close my eyes and sit up by him, I was afraid this was going to happen. "I do respect it Huntsman, but we have no reason to hide our love from everyone." Besides it had been a couple months since I had that conversation with William, I did think about this.

"We have _every_ reason to hide our relationship from everyone," Eric shoots back easily. I feel awkward tension sit between us as I search for something to say, something to change his mind.

"Why do you feel this way, my Huntsman," I ask, in a sweet, caring voice, knowing that he melts when I talk like that. It works because he physically relaxes and turns to look at me. For a moment he just seems to look into my eyes.

"As I have told you before, I lost my other wife. I lost her so suddenly I didn't have time to think," Eric stops and sorrow is painted on his face. I feel my heart break, but for two different reasons. "If we came out and told everyone in the kingdom that we were interested in each other, I'm almost positive someone would disapprove."

"But-

"Now, I know that you don't care whether they like it or not, but I do," Eric says ignoring my interruption. He looks away from me and moves his thumbs around, something he does when he's nervous. "People like you, a Queen, belong with someone like William, a Duke."

I'm stunned as he says this to me. Didn't we already talk about this? That I don't want William, that I want him, did I not tell him?

"I thought I already told you that I only want you!"

"You did, but when you hear all the things the other people will say about me, you will realize that it's the truth. Then you will leave."

I can hear the sadness in his voice, and I can't help but feel sad too. This must be his biggest fear, having me leave him. I take my time thinking about what to say to him. I want him to know that I _really_ mean it.

"You have to understand that, that will never happen, even if I wanted to leave you I wouldn't be able to. I'm not going to explain myself again, Eric, I already told you that you mean the world to me. Maybe you're the one who wants to leave."

His head snaps up to look at me. His blue eyes are filled with pain and he takes my hand in his. I look away from him, maybe he really does want to leave, can't blame him really.

"Princess that is not at all what I want; I just want what's best for you, I'm trying to figure out if I'm really what the best is for you."

All of a sudden I can't take it anymore; I crash my lips to his, angrily. He's shocked at first but gives in and kisses me back, although I can tell this won't last. When he removes our lips from each other he pulls us down under the covers.

"Let's get some sleep, Snow," The Huntsman says kissing my neck softly before fully resting. I sigh and unwillingly close my eyes and try to sleep, knowing that nothing will be different tomorrow.

"Queen, did you hear what I just said about the new expanding plans for the land?"

I look up alarmed. I thought we were still talking about some new laws, new expanding plans?

"I'm sorry Sir, could you please repeat what you said," I say modestly, now giving him my full attention. I listen as he tells me about the plan. I tell him that he can go ahead and start it, then dismiss everyone. William tries sticking around but I give him a look and he leaves without a word.

These past few days were horrible; Eric seemed to be avoiding me ever since I brought up that I didn't want to keep us in the dark. If I knew that Eric wouldn't talk to me I would've never said anything. He doesn't even come to my room at night.

I'm faced with the nightmares alone now.

I sit in my too big chair and feel suffocated in my too big dress. A sudden desire to be out in the woods again with my Huntsman overwhelms me. Maybe that's how Eric feels; maybe the only thing keeping him here is me. Would he rather be out of this kingdom, out on his own?

I slouch forward and put my head in my hands. I know this is not a very Queen action but right now but I'm having a tough time, running this kingdom and keeping my love for someone a secret.

The lunch bell rings and the great halls fill with people. I get out of my chair automatically and make sure my dress and hair look fine. I'm not hungry at all; my Huntsman has not showed up for meals in days so I'm forced to sit with William and some members of the Council. I wait until everyone is in the Dining Room before making my way down there.

While I enter the Dining Room I look at the place where the Huntsman and I usually sit and find him there all by himself with an empty seat across from him. A huge smile spreads across my mouth and butterflies flit around in my stomach.

"Is this seat taken," I ask with a teasing grin on my face. He looks up and smiles his most breathtaking smile at me, making me melt inside.

"Of course not, Princess, this one is reserved for you."

"Good, I couldn't imagine anyone else but me sit across from you."

"Exactly what I was thinking my Queen," Eric says lovingly. This makes my throat dry, usually he doesn't play back, but today he seems in a very good mood. His always dazzling blue eyes glow as they look at me. He also looks more cleaned up, his hair is part way pulled up just the way I like it, but he looks better in some way.

We continue with our lunch as we normally do, he asks me how running the kingdom is going and I ask him how he's doing with his job.

"If you would excuse me for a minute or so my Princess, I have an announcement to make," Eric says getting up and going to the front of the Dining Room. I'm shocked as he does this, what's his announcement, is he going to leave?

He puts his two pointer fingers in his mouth and blows out, making the sound of a whistle. Everyone quiets and looks at him questioningly. I can't help but look at him the same way. What is he doing?

"Thank you for your attention," Eric says with a strong accent, "I have something I would like to share with all of you today, if you don't mind." I see some people lean in as if my Huntsman is going to tell him a secret.

"Now you all know that when Ravenna was still in power, she sent me out to kill Snow White," the Huntsman says taking a pause waiting for everyone to take this in. "Ravenna promised me that if I did bring back Snow Whites heart, she would bring my dead wife back to life. Now, I then learned that Ravenna could not do that, even if she wanted to, she would kill me either way, whether I brought back Snow White or not."

"When I first saw Snow White I was struck by her beauty and kindness, as most of you probably were," my Huntsman says shooting me a grin. I can't help but blush as he does this. "I kept thinking, 'Why would Ravenna want this girl dead?' So I decided I had no right to take her heart and give it to the Dark Queen, instead I would save and protect her heart, and that's what I did." I hear people murmuring things but I can't take my eyes off of Eric.

"We began to trust each other, Snow and I, we became a team. At first, I still did not know why Ravenna wanted her dead but soon I realized it on our journey together. Snow White is the one to heal our kingdom, she is the one. As soon as I realized it there was no going back for me, I would protect her with everything I had, as I'm sure most of you would do."

Tears form in my eyes as he says this, love erupts from me, and I'm sure everyone can see it.

"But then I lost her, just as I did with my first wife. I let her out of my reach for one moment and the Dark Queen got to her." The silence spreads across the room and I wonder if people are even breathing and if they can hear my heart beating against my chest.

"They say that true loves kiss can break any spell there is, now I didn't believe that at all. Duke William who was also on the journey with us, kissed her first. I was almost positive that Snow would wake up, but she didn't." People turn to look at William and he gives them a sheepish smile. "Then one night, when we moved her to a town we found, I came into her room to say goodbye."

Tears are now running down my face and more follow as I see my Huntsman choking up too.

"I told her that I had a wife and I lost her, and that I became a lazy ole drunkard that I didn't care for, until I met you," Eric says looking in my eyes. "I told her that I'm sorry I failed you but you will be up in heaven where you belong. Then I kissed her." Some people gasp, but I ignore them. How else do they think I came back to life?

"Automatically, I left. As soon as I stepped outside I thought of running away and I was about to do that until I saw Snow White convincing all of these men to come fight with her against the Dark Queen Ravenna. It was then when our eyes met that we knew my kiss broke her spell." I smile with tears stained on my face as people actually sigh with content. Eric looks away from me and back towards the crowd.

"I guess that what I'm trying to say here is that, I am in love with my Princess, Snow White."

I'm out of my chair before anyone can comprehend what he just said. I run up to the Huntsman and press my lips to him not caring if this is disrespectful to my royal subjects, I kiss him with everything I have. When I think I have enough of his lips, we pull away and beam at each other. I turn to the crowd.

"I guess what I'm trying to say too is that; I'm in love with my Huntsman, Eric."

The Dining Room is silent for a moment until the loudest cheers erupt with joy. Eric wraps his arm around my waist and I lock my hand in his, feeling warm at once.

"Now will you _really_ marry me my Princess," Eric whispers to me tickling my ear. I squeeze his hand and whisper back,

"Of course, I would never keep you waiting my Huntsman." He pulls me in for another kiss and the cheers get louder, not knowing how they could get any louder.


End file.
